hypnobirthing - any information would be great!

[aquasea]

Hi everyone,

I have been told that it is highly unlikely that I will be able to have an epidural (not that I would plan to have one but knowing that I don't have the option is a little scary!). With this in mind I started researching alternatives and have heard about hypnobirthing. I was wondering if anyone had tried this and if so was it useful or in reality a complete waste of time?! Any thoughts/experiences/advice would be gratefully received!

Thanks.

Aqua xx

[charlieq]

I tried it and think it worked. I was anxious as hell, but my first labour was only 7.5 hours with a 25 minute second stage and all entirely bearable though last bit was certainly intense.

I was so calm in the earlier stages that the midwife didn't turn up until the head was coming out as she said I sounded too normal (don't recommend this bit though!)

If you are in London, there is a guy in Brixton, whom we saw, who is good. You could go on your own or with DH if you want to be hypnotised during the birth rather than putting yourself under. In my case, I preferred to be alone and DH snored through most of the labour.

[aquasea]

Wow! 7.5 hours! What an amazing story. What type of pain relief did you have? Did you have one to one sessions with this guy in Brixton? Did you have CDs or anything to listen to? Did you have to practice for long before the birth? Was it very expensive? Sorry for all the questions but I am fascinated!

[charlieq]

no pain relief whatever. I thought I would be begging for it. I think in the last stages, once DH was awake, he put a hot flannel or 2 on my lower back which was nice!

I did the whole hippy birth thing- lots of yoga positions during contractions, was just on the bed most of the night doing those. (If you know the 'cat' position, that is a great one to do). Before doing it, I really didn't believe it would work.

I didn't use any CDs, though I do have one now in preparation for the next birth. I think seeing someone 1 to 1 is more powerful though.

It is quite expensive, about £75 for a couple session. I think we had about 3 before the birth. We had another one booked but I gave birth before it could happen. The hypnotherapist has a theory that women who come to him often give birth a few days early cos it makes the body so ready to go into labour.

[aquasea]

That really is incredible. £75 for a one to one doesn't sound too bad. I haven't done too much yoga (I do have a DVD though which I keep meaning to do!) but this all sounds great. What CD do you have?

[BrummieOnTheRun]

I did Gowri Motha's Gentle Birth Method course (4 x 2hr sessions). It does cover more than self-hypnosis - it's about getting you mentally and physically 'birth fit' for an easier birth. Very good at getting you in a positive frame of mind. Listened to the CD throughout final stages of pregnancy and in labour. Managed to cope up until transition.

This time, as I'm no longer in london and was curious (!), I've just done a 2hr session with a local specialist hypnobirthing person. It's slightly different in that it focuses more on breathing in labour, which GM didn't.

I think either / both will work really well for you.

[BrummieOnTheRun]

just wanted to clarify - didn't need drugs at transition...just ditched the CD! had a wonderful drug-free waterbirth.

[pooka]

I also tried with with second baby and it worked, IMO.
With dd I had gas and air, pethidine and epidural.
With ds, has gas and air for the last half hour of labour. Recovered quickly, lost aby weight, felt positive and much much much less tearful.
I know this might have happened anyway - but I'm sure it helped.
What also helped was ante-natal yoga. I also had a homeopathic birth kit.
Basically after having a tough time first time round, I was determined to do anything that might help me cope better with the second labour, especially as I was keen to have a home birth.
Was having a terrible time sleeping from about 32 weeks pregnant. Went to see the hypnotherapist at 35ish weeks, desperate for sleep. She did a session where she talked about images, my first labour, what I wanted to happen and so on. Then I had a second session a week later that she taped, and I listened to that tape nightly until I went into labour. Instantly my sleep improved drastically, and the tape helped me relax and have good midday naps (dd permitting!) and todrop off easily at nighttime.
She talked in the tape about all matters post-natal as well as the birth itself - i.e. you will be confident, you will feed easily, you will eat what you need and be nourished and healthy and so on.

So would recommend it - but would also suggest that ante-natal yoga is at least as useful practically because you learn breathing techniques and about different positions for labour that can help take your mind off the contractions and make sure you get the best possible birth, all things going well.

Because I had a very quick complication free labour, the homeopathic kit was mostly used post-natally - arnica for healing, something else for afterpains and so on.

Good luck!

[pooka]

Oh - because I only had 2 sessions, paid about £100 if I recall correctly. They were 1 on 1. DH would have been welcome to come, but....... while I love him dearly I don't think he would have been straight-faced. So I kind of did it myself. Wasn't about getting myself into a trance as such - was more about being able to get myself relaxed and to kind of go into myself and cope with whatever happened.

[aquasea]

This is all really encouraging and inspiring. Do you think doing my yoga DVD at home will suffice or should I really join a group to get personalised tuition? My yoga DVD doesn't seem to talk too much about breathing.

[Lasvegas]

Would highly reccomend. I had no pain relief at all. No tear at all. Midwife said she had never seen a first time mum give birth so easily. Labour did hurt, but it was really surreal. I don't know how I did it but I just hypnotised myself. Negative was for about 24 hrs was told on phone that I wasn't in established labour and to have a bath. When I went to hospital was 9cm dilated and midwife couldn't believe I sat in a car. Open to questions if you have any.

[aquasea]

Lasvegas, how did you do this? Did you have one to one sessions? Did your partner attend too? Did you listen to CDs? I have loads of questions!

[pooka]

If I were you I would go to a group. Suppose it depends on the type of class, but mine was maybe 30mins yoga, including breathing exercises. Then 15 mins of graduate of the class coming back with the baby and talking about their birth. Then 15mins relaxation.
Lots of leaflets there on hypnobirthing, homeopathy, essential oils and so on.
Was a real treat to go to, and also invaluable in showing that there is another way. Small example - we were taught that when labour established it was important to help time pass particularly when it was painful. So a good idea is to say "Right, I'll do 15 mins on the birthing ball, then 15mins against the wall, then 15mins of kneeling..." and so on, so you have a sort of mini-circuit that you obviously don't have to stick to, but that it acts as a distraction IYSWIM.

[Lasvegas]

aqua, happy to help. I went to a french lady for a weekend course. She had 2 kids herself so in my oppinion knew what she was on about. I don't recall her name, I googled hypnobirthing london and found her that way. But that was 4.5 yrs ago. There were 3 or 4 couple in total. It was a bit slow and could have been done in 1.5 days, but I am a very impatient person. She gave us music tapes to keep I think called rainbow hypnobirthing. It was an american tape. During the course when we practised I din't think I was hypnotised. But for about 6 weeks I listed to the tapes so guess it sunk it. The best bit for me was the idea of welcoming contractions as opposessed to thinking oh god here comes another one and tension. It took me 4 yrs to get pg I so wanted my DD that it was easy to welcome the contractions. Say there are 500 in total then each one is a count down to the moment when I could hold my baby. My x husband did attend but was a waste of time. In fact he left me a couple of weeks after the birth. So you can definately do it without a birthing partner. I should mention that I also had waterbirth so i cannot tell how this contributed to my easy birth.